to increase their existing nuclear arsenals. it would ask for more transparency to provide information on their nuclear weapons. create an inventory of warheads, and begin the process of creating a platform for a brand new negotiation which is discussed on page 7. in that new negotiation, what we call phase 2, which would take place between 2014, and 18, we did have the multilateral negotiation, where not only the two existing negotiating states, the u.s. and russia, would be at the table, but other nuclear weapons states as well. in that multilateral framework, we would seek an agreement that would, in which the united states and russia would continue their own reduction efforts down to 500 nuclear-weapons, as long as the other nuclear states agreed first to freeze their stockpiles, so there would no longer be a buildup on the part of other nuclear states. that freeze would then be followed by proportional reductions in their nuclear arsenals, which would be completed by 2020 one. that would be an aspect of the second phase. th

that will reduce existing deployed warheads down to lower levels. we are talking about a follow on negotiation where the nine states and russia, because they possessed 95% -- were the united states and russia would take the lead in a second negotiant that would go down to 1000 weapons overall. we can move now to a second aspect which is outlined six. at the same time that the u.s. and russian sides are negotiating down to 1000 weapons, there would be preparations made for bringing in the other nuclear powers. that would consist of diplomatic efforts to purge those existing nuclear powers to show restraint -- to purge those existing nuclear powers to show restraint and to ask for more transparency. it would ask them to provide more information on their nuclear weapons forces. it would create an inventory of warheads and create a process of creating a platform for a grand new -- for a brand new negotiation which is discussed on page 7. this would take place between 2014 and 2018. we would have a multi naps -- a multi national negotiating. other nuclea

the united states -- denies its very right to exist? the united states is right to call it a terrorist nation. we do not believe we should provide aid to gaza until hamas meets these conditions. so, you know, there are people who also say that the palestinian-israeli problem needs to be settled before there can be peace in the region. that is nonsense. the problem with iran has to be settled before there can be peace in the region. we all know that iran is developing nuclear weapons. we all know that ahmadinejad has threatened to wipe israel off the face of the earth. we all hope he loses in his election this week, but whoever replaces him is not going to be much more of a moderate than he is. and so israel has the absolute right to defend its security. and the united states is israel's greatest ally, should not be putting pressure on israel to make unilateral concessions up front. that is very, very important. when president obama said the bond between israel and the united states is unbreakble, then we ought to do that in our actions

palestinian state exists alongside the jewish state. [applause] important issues that will be discussed as part of the final settlement, my positions are known: israel needs defensible borders, and jerusalem must remain the united capital of israel with continued religious freedom for all faiths. the territorial question will be discussed as part of the final peace agreement. in the meantime, we have no intention of building new settlements or of expropriating additional land for existing settlements. but there is a need to enable the residents to live normal lives, to allow mothers and fathers to raise their children like families elsewhere. the settlers are neither the enemies of the people nor the enemies of peace. rather, they are an integral part of our people, a principled, pioneering and zionist public. unity among us is essential and will help us achieve reconciliation with our neighbours. that reconciliation must already begin by altering existing realities. i believe that a strong palestinian economy will strengthen peace. it

the issue of terrorism exists in every faith. it has existed in every phase, including christianity in various phases of history. in fact, even more recently, if you look at what happened in the issue of northern ireland in recent decades, one thing that always raises my concern -- that is how the issue of israel /palestine has fed into a discourse that basically goes to say that you have jews and you have christians on the one hand and then you have muslims on the other hand. president obama did talk about this in his speech yesterday. there are a lot of christian minorities. throughout islamic history, the jews played a very important part in muslim culture and civilization that tends to be discarded. especially when we talk about israel and palestine. all we hear within that discourse is that muslims hate jews and judeo-christian heritage forces muslim heritage. the reality of it is much more complex than that. the reality is that is long, at various point in history, was a lot more accommodating to jews than christianity was,

agency also retains the existing critical role of protecting the public during an outbreak.fda needs new legal authorities to be able to succeed in these roles and protect the public health. this legislation would provide this critical tools. it my written testimony provide several examples but i would like to highlight one of the most important new authority is now -- section 106 provides fda with explicit authority to act as with records during routine inspections thereby addressing one of the most significant gaps in its beef existing authority. the authority provided in this provision is essential to enable fda to identify problems and require correction before people become ill. it also enables a agency to verify during a routine inspections that firms are maintaining proper distribution records. records access and record-keeping by all persons in the distribution chain and a key mechanisms of providing regulators with information on plant operations, product safety and product distribution. such information is necessary to verify compliance and to identify problems. la

so i think that the concerns that i expressed in that speech no longer exist because of the action that congress has taken. >> but i asked you, mr. attorney general, not whether it was unwise but whether you consider it to have been illegal. because that's certainly the implication of what you said in the quote i read and the explicit statement of the man who is now president of the united states. >> well what i'm say something in that speech is i thought the action that the administration had taken was inconsistent with the dictates of fisa and i think i used the word contra invention. and as a result i thought that the policy was an unwise one and i think that the concerns that i expressed then had really been remedied by the fact that congress has now authorized -- >> did you think it was illegal? >> well, i thought that, as i said, it was inconsistent with the fisa statute and unwise as a matter of policy. >> has something happened that's changed your opinion since your june, 2008, statement that would make it hard for you to just simply say what the president said, that it's illega

>> well, i think that the warrantless wiretapping program as it existed at that point was certainly unwise in that it was put together without the approval of congress and as a result did not have all the protections, all the strength that it might have had behind it as i think it now exists with regard to having had congressional approval of it. so i think that the concerns that i expressed in that speech

and the other, that she failed to disclose some medication that she had taken for a pre-existing heart condition. the record will show she was not taking that medication at the time she submitted her initial application for coverage. robin's claim in june of 2008 was not for weight control. it was not for a heart condition. it was for cancer surgery. double mastectomy, for breast cancer. yet her policy was rescinded three days before that surgery was scheduled to take place. it was bad enough that she had to deal with the trauma of breast cancer, but to be denied coverage right before potentially life-saving surgery, quite frankly, is something that no human being should have to undergo. she had no insurance and no way to pay for her scheduled surgery. so obviously it was postponed. she called my office. my staff west to work. they had several conference calls with officials of blue cross/blue shield. in those conference calls, blue cross and blue shield was unyielding. they were adamant. it went to the council, the general council of blue cross/blue shield. and that individual said th

but today it's still a problem that exists and must be eliminated. when a health insurance policy recision occurs, it creates waves throughout the entire health care system. make no mistake, these decisions deprive people of needed care. they deprive hospitals and doctors of the reimbursement they have earned for their service. for some, a recision is a costly process that can result in a doctor or hospital having to seek payment from the individual. for others, it means a delay and access to a life-saving procedure or treatment. that's unacceptable. today we will hear from citizens, and i thank you all for coming to provide your testimony and your stories. about your lives that have been turned upside down by the insurance industry policy of recision. we'll hear from executives who will tell us that in the name of uncovering insurance fraud and corruption, they had no choice but to remove these beneficiaries from their rolls. but i think the testimony of the people who have lived through this trauma will tell a different story. the number of uninsur

pingree: pre-existing conditions, it's shocking when you hear those stories. i heard about a state that didn't have a requirement that insurance covers you in spite of a pre-existing condition. someone told me that someone of child-bearing age, you could have a pre-existing condition. and why shouldn't your insurance company cover you, but they weren't going to cover you. why don't they just say, we want healthy people who promise never to get sick. i come from the state of maine where the state legislature has already required that insurance companies cover you in spite of pre-existing conditions. and that's a great reform. maine is one of the laiders of health care reform. we have a high number of people who have insurance coverage, many of them on maine care system, medicaid. but the fact is, what my colleagues in maine told me and i felt it, that states can't go it alone. there are many states in the country that have passed these kinds of regulars layings, but it makes it hard to compete with the state next door or charges sick people more than people who

he obviously wants hamas to recognize the existence of israel and recognize previous agreements achieved with the israelis by the palestinians. the fact that he has not rejected hamas and out wright as a terrorist organization, i think indicates that he wants to take the issue in a different direction. although the conventional wisdom is that the proof of the pudding is in the eating, i think the man does seem to be very serious about what he wants to achieve. not because he loves the palestinians or the israelis, but he says that he has america's best interest at heart. he sees a resolution of that contract -- the conflict. host: can president obama really bridge the gap? do the people have to? guest: the israelis and the palestinians, obviously, have a very major role to play since they are basically the main people concerned with this. nothing that is going to happen between the israelis and palestinians is going to happen outside of the american context. the united states is obviously a very close ally of israel. it has always supported israel very strongly. it has always sought the

you can operate diesel powered services with existing equipment.most importantly, you don't necessarily need a dedicated track or right of way. although in some circumstances they might be desirable. those are fore middable cost advantages and 110-mile-an-hour service allows less trip times that makes it more competitive in certain markets. thirdly, reducing the portions of your journey that trains cover at a very low or very low speeds. goirl is not raw speed but it's rather an economically, reliable and trip time competitive service, bage part of reducing trip time involves finding ways to raise operating speeds at that low he end of the range. we replaced a crossing in chicago's brayden park. trains actually had to come to a stop before getting a signal to proceed at 10 miles an hour. we can now move trains through that interlocking at 40 miles an hour, and this is will take several minutes off the time. i hope the committee will keep amtrak and inner city passenger rail in mind as it considers some of the pending legislation we expect to see in

regulatory domicile and the business model has existed for centuries. in a case of re insurance, regulatory reform is necessary to improve regulatory and market efficiency and maximize capacity in the u.s. and that reform should focus licensing, prudential regulation and international coordination. it has been suggested that the authority of a systemic risk regulator should encompass traditional regulatory roles and standards for capital liquidity, risk management, collection of financial report, examination of authority and an a authority to take regulatory action if necessary. we are concerned that the systemic risk regulator envisioned by some, one without cheer, delineated lines of authority and strong, preemptive powers would be redundant with the existing state-based regulatory system. we also note that without regulatory reform and a prudential federal re insurance regulator, a federal systemic regulator would be an additional layer with limited added will have and you create issues with applicable tomorrows and be in conflict with the multi-stat

like a phoenix rising from the ashes, it had an earlier existence. two years earlier, the united states attorney had prosecuted and convicted tuscaloosa dr. philip vogel, medicaid fraud. he was a friend of governor siegelman, who, in the same year, 2002, had been narrowly defeated in his re-election bid. by 2004, ex-governor siegelman was leading in the polls for the next gubernatorial race, and that's for both potential democratic and republican candidates. dr. vogel had a number of contracts with medicaid to provide medical care in the western area of alabama's -- it was alleged he had violated the state's competitive bid laws and committed other acts of fraud in connection with those contracts. he was tried, convicted. the case went to the 11th circuit court of appeals, and the circuit reversed the convictions. remarkable in itself, because the 11th circuit is no bastian of liberality. the circuit found that the indictment was defective, that the competitive bid law was not applicable, because contracts for professional services are exempted from

but we must also say, and we note that we know that the system exists, that we know that some insurance companies give bonuses to their claims managers who deny claims or rescind policies, that we know this and yet we have done nothing to correct this heartbreaking misconduct. these devastating eventually terminal diseases -- i have one -- are difficult. we know this too. and you know this because your case managers walk hand in hand with a lot of these patients through this difficult process in their care and treatment. statistics being what they are and also because i met a lot of you as we did the book signing earlier, i know that there are survivors of my disease in this room, and i want to thank you for being my companions on this road, but you know -- [applause] and i actually talked at least to one of you about this, you know the roller coaster of it. the news isn't good, and for some of us we know there will likely come the day when the news isn't good, it's all we can do not to drop to the ground. and even when the news is not devastating, we stil lifelines to keep us steady, s

i am requesting that secretary clinton make a possible under existing law. all agencies should conduct reviews to determine where they can do the same. hundreds of fortune 500 companies already offer same-sex benefits because it is the right thing to do and it can help retain the best possible talent. when a top talent serving their country now more than ever. under current law, we cannot provide a same-sex couples with people went of health-care benefits that is provided to other married couples. we want to make sure that we guarantee these rights for all federal employees. , to take one person for her tireless leadership on this struggle for equality. of what you think senator joe lieberman and susan colleagues for championing this bill in the senate. today marks a historic step towards the changes we seek. we have to acknowledge that this is one step among the steps that we have not yet taken. i think a marriage act is discriminatory and we will work with congress to overturn it. we have more work to do to ensure that the government treats all citizens eq

our basic premise is that we will work within the existing architecture. we do not want to create federal bureaucracies with federal mandates that only cause more problems. the energy and commerce committee will begin to meet next week. when chairman said he will have three hearings on health care next week. we will be engaged in those. we will have a republican alternative as part of the comprehensive package that is being talked about today. we believe we need to reform medicaid. we need to reform s-chip. we should give people the option to have a private plan. we would give them assistance to do that. we need to take pressure off of medicaid by creating incentives for long-term health care. we have some proposals for that. people who work force of possesses who do not provide health care should be able to form associations with like businesses and associations. we believe the state should be able to form regional pools across state lines so that people who work in areas that do not have health care provided for them can be part of a puloo. we believe in

we are all african immigrants because the human beings began existing there in africa. so perhaps adam and eve were blacks. >> host: most likely. >> guest: i think there were some stories that for me are really relevant, especially because they happens just ten minutes ago, and these stories are very recent. for instance, in 1942, the pentagon, the transfusions of black, when the united states was sent to the second world war, and at that time the director of the red cross in these islands, was charles view, very important scientist who had not invented the plasma but almost invented it because thanks to him it was possible to save millions of lives in the second world war, and so he was a director of this part of the red cross, and he said, i will not order these stupid order because block blood doesn't exist. there is not such a thing like a black black. and he was, of course, resigned. he resigned. but he was expelled. he was a scientist, very important, and he was black. he was black himself. so, he knew perfectly well what he was speaking about. and this is an hist

ago, two years ago re-authorized the act i think is a recognition on the part of congress the need exists. we argued i think very strongly for the continued validity, viability of that section and it is our hope that the court will agree. we will see what the supreme court opinion is and then how we have to react to it. . statement and response to questioning. and then lastly i just want to make sure i put on the record the legal services and pro bono. i mention them freedom frequently and i don't want this hearing to do without a strong effort to make sure that the department of justice is the leader in access to our legal services by all of the people of this nation. i think the attorney general and the department justice can play a very important role. >> agree with thament which talked about this during my visit with you, the confirmation process and the concerns you raised at that point i think are extremely legitimate ones of the i think the attorney general has to take a leadership role in this in the way that president clinton did and attorney general reno did, lawyers for america

when you talk about recisions' with no pre-existing condition clause, it would not be possible. guest: the public plan debate is the cornerstone of the debate. should there be a government- sponsored plan? the have talked about a co op idea, more regional? i think this is a huge discussion point. do you need a government plan? would it be an unfair competitor? that gets into payment rates and all sorts of thing. s. host: what about taxing employer guest: health-care: you get health care employment -- benefits from your employer. they don't have to pay taxes on it. the idea is that cost the federal treasury billions of dollars a year. they looked at the level of those benefits and decided to tax it at a certain level. or tax people at a certain income level. that could bring a lot of money to help finance reform. it is a very attractive pot of money, but fraught with political risk. in policy there is quite a bit of support for it. some of these high-cost benefits if they encourage over use of health care, democrats and republicans like this idea, but union groups have said that

that reconciliation must begin today by altering existing realities on the ground. i believe a strong palestinian economy will strengthen peace. it will strengthen the moderates, it will weaken the extremists. if the palestinians turn toward peace and fighting terror and strengthening governance and the rule of law, in educating their children for peace and stopping incitement against israel, we will do our part in making every effort to facilitate freedom of movement and access to enable them to develop their economy. all of this will help us advance a peace treaty. but above all else, the palestinians must decide between the path of peace and the path of hamas. the palestinian authority must overcome hamas in the gaza strip. israel will not sit at the negotiating table with terrorists who seek its destruction. [applause] hamas will not even allow the red cross to visit our kidnapped soldier, who has spent three years in captivity cut off from his family and his people. we are committed to bringing him home safe and sound. [applause] with a palestinian leadership c

. -- recognize israel's right to exist. israelis must it knowledge -- their right to exist cannot be denied, and neither can palestine's. the u.s. does not accept the legitimacy of continued israeli settlements. [applause] this construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. it is time for these settlements to stop. [applause] host: just part of the president's speech yesterday in cairo. victor is on the democrats' line from missouri. caller: good morning. i want to say i am really proud of my president. i think he is -- he has extended an olive branch and has done something that is long overdue, and using force first combat use -- instead of using force first he used diplomacy, and understanding and compassion of all peoples. since we are a nation of several religions, a in a christian, but you believe what you want to believe because we have the right to believe. he wants to express that in a democracy. i think that christians, we can know this, to honor him. he is a christian, and i am

it is a threat to israel's existence. and under no circumstances whatsoever can we allow that conventional threat to become a nuclear one. especially in light of the threat of iran, and in the light of the threat extremists pose to so many innocent civilians around the globe. the importance of israel as a strategic ally and friend to the united states could not be clearer. it's hard to overstate the value of having such a stalwart democratic ally in such a critical part of the world, an ally in terms of intelligence gathering, economics, politics and culture. israel is a rose in a desert rampant with repression, a force of moderation against fundamentalism and extremism. it is an ally we can constantly depend on and count on to be with us in innational fora -- international fora. for more than six decades it has been a key u.s. partner. we have israeli engineers to thank for tprefrg advances in solar power to a.o.l. instant messaging. equipment we're using in iraq to fight terrorism was developed in israel. medical treatm

and cutting until the moment which i think i feel, think that the words that are there deserve to exist or they try to be. >> host: that story affected me a lot because i've always been fascinated by the cave paintings, and to me what struck me the most that made me think was of course the beauty, but i was thinking of the intellectual capacity because often we think of primitive man as primitive as if his brain were not as good as our brain, he wasn't as smart as we are and i was thinking approximately 40,000 years ago that these people were doing these works of art with the brilliant powers of creativity. they are probably no different than any powers of creativity that we have today and perhaps they were women. >> guest: and this isn't a possibility in any of the book of prehistoric art and i have that in other books. they are always half thinking of these artists, they were artists and deed, as men, but perhaps they were women. >> host: wanted to note that your book, "mirrors," is probably i will use the word feminist books i have ever read. the overwhelming number of portraits of w

it didn't exist before last year.nd so that book, along with the other resources we have and we know about and the data that's available today and the information from the clinical information systems, all of these things are available to us today, and you can make a very strong and compelling case when we talk to providers when you put that stuff on the table and say to them, you know, this is just not acceptable. we're not going to pay for this anymore. and that advances the conversation in a way that's been different from the past. so i'm very optimistic that we will move quickly. i think we have some evidence that that's true. and i think we need to engage this problem at that level in those terms. and we will -- we can move much faster, i believe, than people who, you know, kind of don't pay everyday. believe that we can. >> this week saw the release of more than 150 hours of secret audio recordings from the nixon white house. from early 1973 on the agreement to end the vietnam war. >> they are not to have any ad

back in 1993 cited 19 other drug intelligence centers that already existed. whose functions the ndic duplicates. it's not just the previous administration. long before that, we've recognized that this is money that should and could be saved if we closed down the center. as reported in "the hill" on may 14, a review of o.m.b. agreed. they concluded the ndi crmbing's efforts were duplicative of other intelligence agencies. a spokesman for d.o.j. said the resources for ndic should be realigned to support priority counterterrorism and national security initiatives. mr. chairman, this is a center begging to be shut down. i don't need trow mind anybody here of the problems we're having fiscally. we're running the biggest deficit we've ever run. we have public debt that's just astounding. we have unfunded liabilities that should make us all shudder and we simply can't keep a center like this open for tens of millions of dollars a year that's been called duplicative and ineffective. i think that this is an amendment that should pass. we're not targeted, as a i mentio

the transmission system as it exists today was certainly not designed for this kind of change in fact it wasn't designed for the 1992 energy act with the deregulation of the wholesale level so we are still trying to adjust to that. what we would suggest, mr. chairman, is we need a sense of urgency. certainly we need transmission as a part of this act. it needs to be addressed in this and as a result of that, we think that there is very basic principles that need to be incorporated as you move forward with any kind of legislative language is that why to this new transmission system, new transition policy that the country is going to be following. as i think you know, mr. chairman, we have established now national cooperative so each cooperative and every one of the 47 states can participate in any renewable project and in any part of the three-quarters of land mass of the united states, so a wind project in south dakota for instance may be invested by people from wisconsin, co-ops from wisconsin or maybe from alabama were georgia or wherever. they can own a piece of that, and what we a

the tragedy existed in the cockpit, as well. in some ways i feel bad about talking to to people who flew to can't represent themselves es ad yet we are very concerned. all of us are very concerned about what happened and what could have been done differently and what we can do to make certain that others aboard airplanes understand there are things we can learn from this crash. one final question. you will, no doubt, appear before this committee many, many times. i understand that when you are asked whether you have sufficient funding at the faa i believe most witnesses are instructed to support whatever the president's budget request is. the last person i recall who came to the congress, one of the committees that i was on. the president's budget request is far inferior and far short of what is needed for his agency. he was fired the next morning publicly in a great show of strength. so i understand you must say that you have all the money you need. yet a couple of the witnesses have suggested that he might well need some addit

nearly 90 so depend on carlisle for their existence. with our closing, these people will be subjected to serious economic hardship. i had numerous offers to sell my business. i have had that right taken away. my family will be left with a single purpose dealership facility with no tenant. this is senseless. >> my grandfather paid for carlisle chevrolet for his from his labor to my father paid his mother through his efforts. it took me nearly 20 years to pay my parents for carlisle chevrolet. it took gm and chrysler a mere 24 hours to take carlisle chevrolet away from the. >> members of the house congress oversight committee russians ahead of gm and chrysler today about their decision to close dealers. see the full hearing tonight at eight eastern on c-span. >> every weekend the latest books and nonfiction authors on c-span tv. >> here is our present policy. just as we are eager to stop the war. >> telephone conversation from the final months of lyndon johnson's presidency on vietnam, un appointees and troubles for his pick for supreme c

congress must ensure that weir not undermining the existing processes if we are going venture into the transmission arena especially when sensitivities exist to state authority, cost allocation, safety and eminent domain issues. as we examine these issues there are questions and challenges that we must keep in mind. who's going to pay for this? will those not receiving the benefits of transmission have to spend for the cost of lines traversing the country. i'm hearing strong concerns about designing our transmission system for one specific purpose. it's not the job of transmission planners or transmission companies to choose the types of generation that may interconnect with the transmission system. transmission is needed, plain and simple, regardless of the type of generation. where i come from, transmission is a sensitive subject. it would be very difficult to convince wisconsinits and other americans that in the name of national interest, the federal government is taking their proper toe essentially stretch an extension cord across it to power a larger urban area many, many miles aw

today people can't get coverage if they have a pre-existing medical condition. secondly, to many people are charged higher premiums even if they can get insurance because of their health status and small businesses go into a completely dysfunctional insurance market when they try to get insurance for their employers or even their loved ones. the market is dysfunctional and they face an affordable rate increases. of that kind of discrimination will end in. a third, people who don't have employment based insurance or who change their jobs will always have access to affordable coverage and they can take it wherever they may go from one job to another even if they are out of work without insurance -- that insurance will be there for them. with that coverage to they will have protection from the catastrophic cost that is raised by many who need care and don't have coverage. choice is the key. choice is the

we need to end pre-existing conditions. and making sure that physicians and doctors are making and prescribing the types of health care that our patients should seek. those are the five p's that we have on this great dialogue here on capitol hill. i thank the gentlelady from maine on discussing this issue and hope we can have a spirited discussion. ms. pingree: you mentioned some of the cost issues and since we have a couple of charts, i thought i might put them up here right now. you talked about the expenses of health. and here's one that shows how our national health expenditures, as they say, gone off the chart. this is one of those charts, actual and projected that shows we can no longer afford this. people say how are you going to pay for health care? when i talk to businesses and individuals, i say how are we going to afford the system the way it is. and this is one of the charts that really shows this. let me show another one. we don't have to tell any of our constituents, we again hear it all the time, from busines

the reality of it is -- i do not have any numbers for how many extremists exist in any faith, but the reality of it is any faith, the majority of its adherents are people who just want to lead a peaceful life in a peaceful existence. host: dianne from new hampshire is saying that any consolatory language directed toward the muslim community would have been greeted with skepticism and derision by the right in this country? guest: it would have been greeted by derision -- greeted with derision by the right in this country. it has been greeted with derision by the right in the muslim world. that is something that was to be expected. if you hear the voices of what some muslims are saying about this speech being completely useless for exacerbating the situation or going in that direction, that exists on both sides. when we were talking about president addressing three different constituencies, i am sure that he was worrying about that particular constituency here in the united states. he is override -- his overriding concern was to do what he feels is best for america. the previous adminis

no change whatsoever in existing statutory prohibitions against abortion, or existing statutory prohibitions on the use of funds to engage in any activity or effort to alter the laws or policies and effect in any foreign country concerning the circumstances under which abortion is permitted, regulated, or prohibited. that means the helms amendment, the leahy amendment which construct the current state of the law with respect to u.s. efforts on this issue abroad remain in effect and unchaed and there's nothing in the statutory institutionization of an already existing office on global woman's issues that would change that and we affirm that by this statute. what the gentleman from new jersey wants to do, he didn't quite say it, but he acknowledges it when asked about it, he wants to change the law. that's legitimate. he can have his efforts. but for those of us who say let's not use this as a vehicle one way or the other. for those of us who have rejected efforts that we personally support, which i'm very much committed to, from the pro-choice community regarding this issue, there's no basis

general by enabling the transfer of risk between counterparties, derivatives exist to serve the risk management and investment needs of end uses and include over 90% of the fortune 500. the vast majority of these transactions are interest rate and current si swaps and equity and commodity derivatives and privately negotiated contracts. we recognize that the industries today faces significant challenges and we are urgently moving forward with new solutions. we have delivered and are delivering on a sear's of reforms in order to promote greater standardization and resilience in the markets. they have been closely overseen and encouraged about regulators who recognize that optimal exclusions to market issues are usually achieved through par participation of market participants and we believe it is essential to tailor to the needs of the customers. let me hay sure that that the members clearly understand the need to act quickly to implement the important measures i will describe. last week president obama announced a comprehensive regulatory reform proposal for the finance industry. the

however, the thousands of businesses that use e-verify to comply with existing federal law and the two states that have made it mandatory deserve assurance that the program will continue to be available. furthermore, i would like to clear up some misconceptions about the e-verify program, which seem to be endlessly repeated. e-verify is 99.6% accurate. that's right. only .4% of tenth tative confirmations are in error of the data. e-verify is free to employers and doesn't cost anything other than the minutes to sign up for the program to use the system. my friends on the other side repeatedly state that 10% of naturalized citizens receive a confirmation. the statistic is now down to 6.1%. so that means 93.9% of gnatalized citizens are immediately cleared to work. of the 6.1%, they only need to call a toll-free number to recktive eye that information. owner that, i was disappointed that an amendment that i offered was ruled out of order. my amendment would have allowed members to vote on whether the executive order requiring federal contractors to use e-verify should not be delayed again

use of non committed to rating systems and what they called pre-existing conditions. there'll be no recent decisions in the public options and there'll be none of the other uses which we are seeing in the insurance practices that are now offered to the american people. in consumer protections will be established in that option that private companies have so far refused to do. so we're going to create competition and going to create choice and we're going to see to it that the public auction included in this bill will not only see that people are treated fairly and have the option of having the kind of policy they might want available public or private but will also establish benchmarks regarding fair pricing and drive innovations that will help reduce long-term cost growth. the public auction will ensure competition in the areas where there are few private plans they're the only alternative two this that i see is counting on the insurance companies to fix the problem, they have had 50 years to do it in more than i can tell you that is a terrible thought to me. while t

we must protect existing coverage when it is good. and improve it when it is not. and the president has said, if you like your health care plan, you can keep it. we must dial down the paperwork wars. and dial up the information to consumers. and we must speak for the 46 million americans, 9 million of whom are children, who have no health insurance at all. for the rhode islanders lining up today at the rhode island free clinic to draw straws, in this great country of ours, to draw straws to see which ones will be able to see a doctor. some have challenged the number of 47 million. there's a report from families usa that points out that 47 million is the number of americans who at any minute are without health insurance. if you look over the course of a year, it's more than 86 million americans who experienced going without health insurance. government must act, at last. the problems of health care in america are rooted in market failures. you can't wait for the market to cure market failure. we've got to change the rules of the game. you can't pay for one thing and

editions, -- pre- existing conditions. there is none of the cherry picking to try to just get the help these people in short and get rid of the sick people. you have to set up some rules for how insurance companies operate. no. 2, for people who are self- employed, small businesses, and others, they should have an option that they can go to if they cannot get insurance through the private marketplace. that is why i have said that i think a public auction would make sense. but that does is give people a choice. they are happy with what they've got, if they are employed by somebody who provides them with good health care, you can keep it. you have to do anything. if you don't have health insurance, then you have an option available to you. how this debate is evolving in washington, unfortunately, sometimes falls into the usual politics. what you have heard is some folks on the other side saying i am opposed to a public auction because that will lead to government running your healthcare system. i do not know how clearly i ca

or will be used to enforce new and existing sanctions and by raising this because u.n. security council resolution 1718 which passed an 2006 appeared to be a strong multilateral toole and band atomic explosions and long-range missile launches and imposed a limited financial sanctions as well and partial trade arms. however as you well know the measures have been widely ignored and on and forced and thereby basically rendering a multilateral effort to toothless. what steps are we taking to ensure this new resolution if it passes doesn't have the same fate? >> one of the things that would be provided by this resolution assuming it is adopted is the dprk sanctions committee would have an enhanced mandate to focus on compliance investigations and outreach and also a panel of experts would be established under other sanctions regimes to support the committee's effort to monitor and improve the implementation obvious that for the u.s. or our government, a position of urging all u.n. members to comply fully with this new resolution of our response to what north korea is doing.

another model is the higher speed service developed incrementally on an existing rail road. to do this, track and infrastructure upgrades are upgraded to an existing line, depending on the route, this could entail smooth curves and grades and improvement to grade crossings and signal systems. this is the process that began on the northeast corridor after 1976 when amtrak gained control and over the years we have raised speeds from 125 and in places, 135, 150 miles an hour but there's a natural sweet spot at 110 miles an hour that offers some significant did vantages. you don't need to close or separate crossings, you cannot read diesel powered services with existing equipment, most importantly you don't need a dedicated track right away. in some circumstances they might be desirable. those are formidable cost advantages and the service allows reduced trip times that make rail service competitive in certain markets. finally there's a search strategy to improving service, reducing the portion of your journey that trains cover at a low or very low speed. our goal is not raw spe

existing structures. for existing structures a reduction in energy consumption from the previous level of consumption for the structure as determined in accordance with energy audits performed both before and after any rehabilitation or improvements undertaken to reduce such consumption that exceeds the reduction necessary for compliance with the energy efficiency standards under subsection a then in effect and applicable to existing structures. so, not only are we going to tell every community in america what the building codes are going to be, what the efficiency standards are going to be, but if you make changes to your house, you have to have another study done to show how much increase in energy efficiency was gained. that will help sell a lot of new houses and a lot of old ones. all right, on page 97. for manufactured housing energy star rating with respect to fixtures appliances be and equipment in such housing such as standard or successor standard is in effect for purposes of this section. please